NBA free agency turns its hungry eyes to Durant in 2016

It's anybody's guess as to where the Thunder's Kevin Durant ends up once the free-agency dust settles next summer. But he's certain to see dollar signs.

Photo: Sue Ogrocki, STF

LAS VEGAS - With free agency all but complete by the time the NBA convened in Las Vegas for summer league this month, the industry peered forward to evaluating the next crop of rookies making their professional debuts, to predicting the season set to launch in three months and to speculating about the prized possession in the free-agent class of 2016.

That is when Kevin Durant, one of the world's premier players, will become a free agent for the first time in his career. The Oklahoma City Thunder forward will draw fevered interest from big and small markets, from coast to coast, from perennial winners to starved losers. But only one franchise can offer a return home.

The Washington Wizards have meticulously prepared for the opportunity to coax Durant, born in the District of Columbia and a product of Montrose Christian School, to Washington once the clock strikes midnight on July 1, 2016.

But the courting of Durant, 26, will be wildly competitive: Thanks to the coming flood of money from a new television contract that will kick in next July, a bevy of franchises will have the salary cap space to offer the maximum possible contract to Durant, the 2014 league MVP. Other teams are only a couple moves away from getting in the mix. It could become a free-for-all, raising the risks of going all-in for one player.

Seeks a chance to win

"The one thing I know about my brother is he wants to win," said Damion James, Durant's best friend and a member of the Wizards' summer league team. "He'll do whatever it takes to win. Whoever gives him the best chance to win is where he's going to end up."

Predicting what Durant will do a year from now is, ultimately, futile. Injuries can puncture rosters, locker rooms can deteriorate, and results can sting over the next 12 months. The recent movement of marquee free agents is evidence. Two years ago, nobody foreshadowed LeBron James bolting Miami. One year ago, nobody envisioned LaMarcus Aldridge, this summer's top free-agent acquisition, leaving Portland. Just a little more than a week ago, DeAndre Jordan stunned the industry by returning to the Los Angeles Clippers after he had verbally committed to the Dallas Mavericks.

And Durant keeps things close to the vest - in 2010, he unceremoniously announced his five-year contract extension with the Thunder on Twitter.

In addition to the Wizards, the Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets are expected to be among the franchises most aggressively courting Durant.

But the Thunder are thought to be the favorite because of the bond Durant has established with the franchise since he was selected second overall in 2007, and because the team already boasts one of the NBA's best rosters.

Russell Westbrook is a frightening triple-double machine. Serge Ibaka is the prototypical center of the future - a rim protector with 3-point range. Enes Kanter, recently signed to a four-year, $70 million contract as a restricted free agent, is a defensive liability but can score at will in the post.

Other solid complementary pieces are bruising center Steven Adams, Durant's college teammate D.J. Augustin, 3-point specialist Anthony Morrow and the combustible Dion Waiters. The Thunder also can offer Durant more money than any other team.

OKC has inside track

"It's difficult to imagine him leaving that situation," said a Western Conference executive, who spoke under condition of anonymity because league tampering rules bar discussing potential free agents who are still under contract with another team. "That team is loaded. If they can stay healthy, they're championship favorites."

Oklahoma City is one of the NBA's smallest markets, a factor that would have repelled a player of Durant's caliber just a few years ago. But technology has altered the NBA terrain. No longer does a player need to play in a metropolis to become a superstar and procure endorsement dollars. Every game is available to anyone, anywhere. Highlights are instantly accessible on the Internet. Durant, a Nike pillar, and Westbrook, a fashion impresario of sorts, are two poster boys of the shift. That Aldridge spurned a meeting with the Knicks and turned down the Lakers to sign with the San Antonio Spurs seemed to solidify the change.

But there will be pressure on the Thunder next season after injuries doomed their 2014-15 campaign.

Durant missed 55 games due to a fracture in his right foot that required three surgeries in six months - a troublesome development, particularly for the playing future of a man who stands 6-11. Ibaka missed 18 games. Westbrook missed 15. The result was a ninth-place finish in the brutal Western Conference and the team's first non-playoff year since 2009. Scott Brooks was fired as coach.